Coluna Prestes
Coluna Prestes ("Zug Prestes") was a military-political movement from 1925–1927 from the context of the lieutenant revolts ( tenentismo ) in Brazil . Within the current there were quite different programmatic approaches, but the dissatisfaction with the "Old Republic", the demand for secret elections and the commitment to an education system supported by the state can be defined as a common line. The leadership of the movement belonged to the most diverse political currents, but the largest part was made up of captains and lieutenants from the middle class of the population; It was in this environment that the ideal of the "soldier as a citizen"arose. Coluna Prestes fought against the government of the then President Artur da Silva Bernardes and his successor Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa for the implementation of political and social reforms. With the increasing success of the movement, the Coluna Prestes contributed to further damaging the reputation of the "Old Republic" and thus paved the way for the revolution of 1930.
The name Coluna Prestes (after the later communist Luís Carlos Prestes ) is misleading. The movement goes back to different insurgent troops, a platoon led by Prestes in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul and a second unit led by Miguel Alberto Crispim Rodrigo da Costa and other commanders in the state of São Paulo . In the state of Paraná there was a merger under the leadership of Costa. Subdivisions were commanded by lieutenants Cordeiro de Farias , João Alberto , Antônio de Siqueira Campos and Djalma Dutra . Persecuted by government troops , the rebels moved inland.
In addition to government troops, the Coluna Prestes opposed police units from the individual states, and there were also clashes with mercenary troops whom the government had brought on their side with promises of amnesty . It is possible that the famous gang leader of the cangaceiros Virgulino Ferreira da Silva (" Lampião ") was appointed to the Coluna Prestes . There was seldom a fight with larger units of the government troops ; diversionary maneuvers have generally been used to mislead government forces. After a march of about 25,000 km through the territory of thirteen Brazilian states, the Coluna Prestes withdrew to Bolivia and Paraguay in 1927 .